Customers can entrust the bank with their apartments for lease and receive the full amount of rent will upfront in a lump sum.

Liu Jun, president of CCB Guangdong branch, unveiled the scheme at a financial forum yesterday, noting that the service will debut first in Guangzhou on Jan. 8. After obtaining the right to lease a property from its owner, the bank will manage the rental in collaboration with professional agencies following standardized operating procedures, Chinese financial newspaper 21st Century Business Herald reported.

The service is very appealing to those with spare properties to rent, Liu believes, as it offers them a new option in asset allocation. CCB formerly specialized in financial asset services as its core business, but it will divert more resources to real estate management in future.

The bank is one of the most active players in the rental housing finance market. It just brought out a rental home loan product in partnership with several Beijing-based developers this week. The maximum loan period is 10 years, and the loan value is capped at CNY1 million (USD152,000).

China's real estate market has exploded over the past couple of decades. The government has mounted a rental property development campaign to meet the public's growing housing demand.